


The Curious Case of the Clamshell Bra

by lovetheblazer



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Advent Calendar, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Day At The Beach, Fluff, M/M, Sunburn, crisscolfer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5362373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetheblazer/pseuds/lovetheblazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Advent Prompt #5: You’re tanning on the beach and I can tell you’ve fallen asleep. I’m gonna feel awful later but you have your shirt off and maybe I put a couple of seashells on your chest so you’re gonna have a really interesting sunburn when you wake up. CrissColfer AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Curious Case of the Clamshell Bra

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5 of the Advent Challenge I'm doing daily through Christmas Eve. I'm still accepting prompt submissions through Sunday, so if you've got an idea you'd like me to write, now's your chance; send your prompts [here](http://lovetheblazer.tumblr.com/post/134229308195/i-decided-to-give-myself-a-bit-of-a-challenge-this).

Darren was a California kid, through and through. He loved growing up in San Francisco. It had everything he could possibly want: music, culture, theaters, and open-minded and accepting atmosphere where he could wander the streets in a leather corset and rainbow tutu and no one would so much as bat an eye at him. To be fair, he'd only attempted that particular feat once after downing far too many tequila shots in the Castro District during Pride, but  _still_ ; it's just nice to know it's a viable option if it ever strikes his fancy again.

San Francisco beaches had nothing on the beaches of Hawaii, though. The closest “beach” near his home, Baker Beach, barely qualifies as a proper beach at all; it's really more of a rocky shore on the peninsula, cold and windy and not exactly designed for catching rays or surfing. But so far, the white sandy shores of Kona near the small beach house his parents rented for their Christmas vacation seems to be absolutely  _made_  for working on his tan, relaxing, and taking in the view. There's one sight in particular that Darren's eye keeps being drawn to, however.

The guy in question first catches his eye when he trudges onto the beach a few yards in front of Darren, acting as if he's marching to his death via firing squad instead of onto the shores of a tropical paradise. He looks like he could be a male model, just not necessarily the kind you'd find frolicking on the beach or in an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue. No, this guy looks like he just stepped off a high-fashion runway or the cover of Vogue, instead. He's tall and lanky, with impressively long legs and an ass that just won't quit. He's got porcelain skin, sculpted cheekbones, and artfully messy hair that manages to look effortless even though Darren's pretty sure it took at least twenty minutes and a bunch of expensive hair products to achieve. Tragically, he's also seemingly the only person on the beach fully dressed, though Darren can still appreciate the way his jeans hug the curve of his butt and his short sleeved button-down shirt shows off his biceps.

Darren fully intends on watching this cute boy strip each and every layer of clothing away, dying to see more of this person who has him transfixed with how out of place he seems. But apparently Darren is still every bit as obvious now when he's smitten as he was in high school, since the cute guy stops midway through unbuttoning his shirt to turn his head and lock eyes with Darren. Knowing that he's busted and that he's definitely been staring far too long to casually play it off, Darren holds eye contact with the guy and gives him his most winning smile. The guy frowns, seeming confused by Darren's complete and utter lack of shame (Depending on who you ask, they might say that it's either Darren's best or worst personality trait.) To drive the point home, Darren give the boy a friendly wave and then shrugs his shoulders, as if to say 'you're incredibly hot, can you really blame me for staring?'

Darren holds his breath while he waits to see how the guy will respond to his overt display of interest. He's well aware that he's probably out of his league with this guy already, but he's always been willing to work for it (though he seriously doubts that anything he could do with this guy would ever feel like work). It would appear that Darren's luck is starting to wear off, though, because the guy absolutely glares at him, making Darren's stomach go icy. The rejection stings more than he'd like it to, but he has the decency to look away immediately. He may be shameless when it comes to checking out cute guys, but he's not going to persist when it's made clear to him that they aren't interested. Darren may be an asshole sometimes, but he's not a creep.

* * *

An hour later, he's come up with the perfect prank and opportunity for light-hearted revenge. Cute guy who is probably a male model has fallen asleep in the sun after first stripping down to a pair of polka dot board shorts and dousing himself in sunscreen. Darren's not sure if the sunscreen is of dubious quality, low SPF, or what, but clearly it's not getting the job done. In the past half hour, he's watched as the guy's skin has gone from a practically translucent white to a deep, rosy hue. From the looks of it, he's working on a pretty wicked sunburn.

Usually, Darren would be just the sort of helpful person who would barge over and wake him up from his nap to warn that he was getting sunburned and that he should probably get out of the sun. However, since the guy has already made it clear to Darren that his assistance and attention is unwanted, he's resisting that urge today. Instead, he's spent the last five minutes walking up and down the beach to gather the perfect set of seashells to pull off his prank.

He winds up selecting two large beige clamshells of nearly identical size and then quietly creeping over to where the cute guy is still sleeping obliviously in the sun. As he gets closer, he glances around, grateful that no one appears to be paying any attention to him. He drops to his knees a few feet away from the towel on which the cute guy is laying and silently crawls to him. He holds his breath as he carefully places first one and then the other clamshell on his chest, with one covering each nipple. The boy doesn't even stir, clearly dead to the world, probably thanks to the fruity rum based beverage he downed earlier.

Gleeful at getting away with his silly revenge plot, Darren takes off at a run towards his umbrella. When he arrives, he drops onto his beach chair and takes a victory swig of his Corona.  _Mission accomplished._

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Darren's starting to come to his senses. The prank that initially seemed so hilarious to him is now starting to feel a bit mean-spirited. Every time he glances over at the attractive guy still asleep, clueless about the seashells perched on his chest, he feels a flood of renewed guilt. In the past half hour, the boy's skin has gone from rosy pink to a deep red that looks like it's got to sting something fierce. Even if he's feeling no pain now, Darren's pretty sure he'll definitely be feeling it later.

When he can't take the regret any longer, Darren decides maybe it's time to do something about it. He feels a little creepy about waking a total stranger from a nap, especially one that's already given him a pretty clear nonverbal kiss off. So instead, he decides to do the next best thing. He'll share his shade with the guy. It seems like the least he can do in the circumstances.

Darren struggles with his umbrella, finally managing to dislodge it from the sand. He carefully folds it and then quietly pads over to where the guy is asleep. Up close, his skin is so red it's practically glowing. Darren winces just looking at it. It only strengthens his resolve to put up the umbrella and get this poor sunburned boy out of the sun ASAP.

Darren goes to work digging the pointed end of the umbrella stand into the sand near the boy's towel. Once he's sure it's buried deep enough to be secure, he reaches for the lever to raise the umbrella and provide much needed shade. Just as it's snapping into place, a noise startles him.

“Um, can I help you?” a bewildered voice calls out.

Darren looks down just in time to see the cute boy remove his sunglasses and peer up at him curiously. “Oh shit, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I just... well, I noticed you were getting a wicked sunburn so I thought maybe I'd loan you my umbrella?” Darren shrugs helplessly. He's aware that his actions probably seem pretty bizarre out of context, especially to someone who's awakened to the sight of an uninvited stranger hovering above him, trying to set up an umbrella.

“I can't be burned. I put on a ton of sunscreen,” the guy protests. He pushes up on one elbow, dislodging the seashells on his chest. “What the fuck?” he says looking down at the shells that have fallen to his striped towel.

“Um. I...” Darren trails off, at a loss for how to explain.

“Oh, ouch. I am so sunburned, you're right,” he sighs in dismay, pressing his fingers against one shoulder and cringing.

“Yeah,” Darren agrees. “Sorry about that. It looks painful.”

“I'm sure it's going to kill when I'm trying to sleep tonight,” the guy groans. He sits up fully and brushes his hair out of his eyes, looking up at Darren. “You're a saint for trying to get me out of the sun, though. I probably would have slept for another hour or two and wound up with third degree burns without you coming along.”

Darren opens his mouth, intending to set the guy straight, but no sound comes out. He lets his gaze linger on the guy's beautiful face and twinkling eyes that are the same turquoise blue as the ocean behind them and closes his mouth again.

“What's your name?” the guy asks him.

“Darren,” he manages.

“Hi Darren, I'm Chris,” he says, smiling as he extends his hand to shake. “So, I've got a question for you.”

“What's that?” Darren asks, eager and wary in equal measure.

“Do you think you could finish installing that umbrella? Assuming it's strong enough to keep me entirely out of the sun, I'd love for you to join me,” he beckons, patting an empty spot on the towel next to him.

Darren can't scramble fast enough to get the umbrella up.

* * *

An hour later, Darren's already a little in love with Chris.

Sure, he was definitely in lust with Chris's appearance from his very first glimpse, but Chris's body has nothing on Chris's mind. He's quick-witted and sharp with a much drier sense of humor than Darren was expecting. He's a good listener and an even better debater. Their playful arguments over silly pop culture touchstones like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the best animated movies feel like foreplay in the best possible way. Darren's not sure if he's ever met anyone that can keep him on his toes as well Chris does. He likes that Chris isn't scared to state his opinions or disagree with him, relishing every acid tipped retort that falls from those distractingly pink lips. Darren's always been sucker for a good conversationalist, and Chris might be the best he's ever met.

So naturally, Darren feels the need to detonate it all with one idle comment. “I have a confession to make,” he begins.

“Oh?” Chris says, playfully arching up one eyebrow as he considers Darren.

“I'm the one who put those seashells on your chest earlier,” Darren blurts out, sure he's about to regret it.

Chris frowns in confusion. “Um, why?”

“It was just a silly joke, it's stupid,” Darren mutters sheepishly. The more he tries to explain it out loud, the stupider it seems.

“Where's the joke? I don't get it,” Chris stares at Darren, all their earlier flirty fun drying up as quickly as a pond in the middle of the desert.

“It's something my brother used to do to me and my friends on vacations. He'd wait until we fell asleep in the sun and then put a toy or oddly shaped sticker on our back so when we woke up, we'd have a tan line in the shape of a heart or bunny rabbit or whatever?” Darren shrugs helplessly. “Like I said, it 's dumb.”

“Very dumb,” Chris agrees, coolly considering Darren as if he's suddenly grown a second head.

“I'm sorry,” Darren apologizes. “I realized it was a dick move like five seconds after I did it and I felt awful. Then I noticed how sunburned you were getting so I decided to try to fix it by bringing over my umbrella...”

“...and the rest was history,” Chris finishes dryly.

“Something like that.”

“So, why tell me now? Obviously I wasn't ever going to find out it was you? Seems like a needlessly embarrassing thing to mention after spending the last hour flirting. Unless you were trying to have an out?” Chris guesses, looking suddenly crestfallen.

“What? No, _god_  no. That's the last thing I'd want, Chris. I just... well, I felt like I'd gotten to know you a little bit and you're awesome, so it seemed like the right thing to do was to be honest with you. Maybe that was stupid of me, I don't know...” Darren rambles, trying to reassure Chris but probably failing on an epic scale.

“It's not stupid. Honesty is a good quality in a person. Certainly something I look for in someone I'm going to...” Chris trails off.

Darren really wants to prompt Chris to finish the sentence but it seems like he shouldn't push his luck. “I think I know how I can make it up to you,” he says instead. “I just need you to come on a little walk with me.”

* * *

“Why don't you have a seat,” Darren offers, gesturing in the direction of the leather sofa in the beach house his parents rented for their Hawaiian holiday. “Just need to grab the aloe.”

Chris plops down, surveying the airy space. “I thought you said your beach house was tiny? This is massive. Definitely bigger than my house back home.”

Darren just shrugs, because it  _is_ small, at least to him. He knows better than to say that out loud though, because it'll just make him sound like an even bigger privileged asshole than he already is. He opens the refrigerator door and retrieves a large bottle of aloe vera gel, then heads back over to Chris on the couch.

“Wait, you keep yours in fridge?” Chris asks, furrowing his brow. “That's weird.”

“Not weird, it's amazing to have it chilled when you have a wicked sunburn,” Darren explains. “You know, for someone pale enough to put Casper the Friendly Ghost to shame, you seem surprisingly uneducated on sunburn prevention and treatment.”

“Uh yeah, guilty as charged,” Chris giggles. “I avoid the sun at all costs. Really not much of an outdoors person.”

“Then why spend your Christmas vacation in Hawaii?” Darren asks.

“My parents and sister wanted to come. I figured it beat Clovis in December, not that that's a very high bar.”

“I see.” Darren sits down on the couch next to Chris. “Alright, shirt off,” he good-naturedly demands.

“I... think I can probably take it from here, Darren,” Chris manages.

“I'm sure you could, but where would be the fun in that?” Darren teases, bumping shoulders with Chris, not thinking.

“Ow,” Chris hisses.

“Sorry, sorry,” Darren apologizes. “Just let me fix it, okay?”

Chris stares into Darren's eyes for a long moment before he finally swallows and nods. “Okay,” he agrees and unbuttons his shirt and slides it off his shoulders.

Under the bright fluorescent lighting in the house, Chris's sunburn looks even worse now. Darren can feel the unnatural heat radiating from Chris's skin, even from a foot away. “That looks like it hurts,” Darren murmurs.

“I've had worse,” Chris whispers back.

Darren picks up the bottle of aloe, squeezing a generous portion into the palm of his hand. He doesn't know what it is about Chris that makes what he'd otherwise regard as a pretty casual touch feel like so much more, but his stomach flutters in a not unwelcome way as he reaches out and gently begins to smooth the gel over Chris's shoulder and upper arm.

Chris flinches slightly at the contact. “Sorry, am I hurting you?” Darren checks.

“No, it's just... cold,” Chris breathes. He shivers once and then Darren can not just see but also feel the the goosebumps erupting across his torso.

“Good cold or bad cold?” he wonders while slowly smoothing the gel down the length of Chris's right arm.

“Um,” Chris pauses, taking a moment to consider. “Good cold, I think.”

“I'm glad.” Darren carefully finishes coating Chris's left arm and shoulder in a thin layer of aloe vera gel. “Do you, uh, want me to get your chest, too?” Darren offers, trying for casual. He's probably breathing a little too nosily to pull it off, but he's noticed that his ministrations seem to be having a similar effect on Chris.

“Sure. Might as well,” Chris finally replies.

Rubbing the cool gel into Chris's chest and stomach turns out to be a lot more intimate than treating his sunburned shoulders and arms. Darren really has no place else to look but Chris's face or body, both equally distracting in different ways. He can feel Chris tensing and then relaxing underneath his hands, seeming every bit as overwhelmed as Darren feels.

Darren's smoothing the last bit of aloe over Chris's collarbones and neck when he suddenly tilts his face down, taking Darren by surprise. Then, he's winding a possessive hand around the back of Darren's neck and tilting his chin up to crash their lips together.

Darren's not often taken completely off-guard, but as far as surprises go, Chris unexpectedly kissing him is possibly the best one he's ever gotten. The kiss starts slow and sweet but still manages to knock all the air out of Darren's lungs with just how much it affects him. He's never wanted to drown himself in anyone before like he does in Chris. He loses all sense of where he begins and ends and melts into Chris, totally surrendering all control to the experience.

It ends eventually, like all good things must, and Darren's so unhappy about this development that he whines at the loss of contact. Chris laughs at him.

“I wasn't done kissing you yet,” Darren pouts.

“You know what they always say – got to leave them wanting more,” Chris retorts, winking.

“I do,” Darren replies immediately. “Want more, I mean.”

Chris grins. “Well, what's stopping you?”

Darren looks down at his aloe-sticky hands. “I should probably go wash my hands first. I feel like I'm going to need full use of both hands to kiss you properly.”

“Couldn't hurt,” Chris agrees, bemused. “I'll join you. I want to survey the damage,” he explains, gesturing to his bare torso.

Darren leads them down the hall towards the large guest bathroom. He steps over to the farthest sink and begins washing his hands with soap and water.

“Oh god, I'm ruined,” Chris sighs miserably, examining his chest in the mirror, lobster red everywhere save for two perfectly symmetrical seashell shapes, one over each nipple. “I won't be able to go out in public shirtless for the rest of my trip.”

“You aren't ruined,” Darren tries to soothe.

“Yes, I am!” Chris wails, voice echoing off the marble countertops as he works himself into hysterics.

“It's really not that bad. It'll fade in a day or two, I'm sure,” Darren reassures Chris.

“Darren, I look like I have a bra tan line.”

“You, um...” Darren trails off, trying his hardest not to giggle.

“See! Even  _you_  are laughing at me,” Chris sulks.

“No, I'm not laughing,” Darren protests, biting the inside of his lip hard enough to draw blood. Thankfully he's more successful in tamping down his laughter this time.

“This is all your fault,” Chris groans.

“I know, I'm sorry. I'm the  _worst_ ,” Darren murmurs apologetically, hanging his head in shame.

“Thanks you to you, I look like I was trying to pull an Ariel...” Chris continues, tracing around the outline left behind from the seashells.

“Oh my god, the clamshell bra – totally,” Darren chuckles. Chris silences him immediately with one icy glare. “ _Sorry_. How can I make it up to you?” he tries again.

“I don't know,” Chris groans. “I think it's hopeless.”

“Well, if you can't go outside in the sun, how about we bring the vacation fun indoors to you?” Darren offers. “We'll order takeout, have a Disney movie marathon? Snuggle up on the couch? Perhaps make out some more? I'll even diligently reapply the aloe vera every couple of hours until your sunburn's all better. It's the least I can do.”

“The absolute least, yes,” Chris hums in agreement. “I guess I could get on board with your plan, under one condition...”

“What's that?” Darren wonders.

“Well, if we're going to do a Disney movie marathon, I'm going to have to insist that we skip The Little Mermaid. Wouldn't want you getting any new and equally awful ideas, after all.”

Darren laughs. “It's a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Share fic on Tumblr](http://lovetheblazer.tumblr.com/post/134627122940/the-curious-case-of-the-clamshell-bra)
> 
> Read Previous Advent Fics on: [AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Advent_Fics_by_lovetheblazer) or [Tumblr](http://lovetheblazer.tumblr.com/tagged/advent-fics-by-lovetheblazer)


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